As of September, 3% of all U.S. mortgages were in some stage of delinquency, up 0.2% from one year ago, according to a report from the real estate analytics company CoreLogic.
While the delinquency rate ticked up slightly, the foreclosure rate remains near the lowest level in 25 years. According to CoreLogic’s Loan Performance Insights Report, the share of mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process was at 0.3% in September, unchanged from one year ago, and close to the lowest levels since 1999.
Early-stage delinquencies, which include loans that are 30 days to 59 days past due, were at 1.6% in September, up from 1.5% a year ago. Adverse delinquencies, which include loans that are 60 days to 89 days past due, were at 0.5%, up from 0.4% in September 2023. Serious delinquencies, which are loans that are 90 days or more past due, were at 0.9%, unchanged from one year ago. While unchanged for the year, serious delinquencies have generally decreased from a high of 4.3% in August 2020, during the pandemic economic crisis.
The foreclosure inventory rate, the share of mortgages in the foreclosure process, was unchanged from a year ago at 0.3%. The transition rate, which is the share of mortgages that transitioned from being current to 30 days past due, was at 0.8%, unchanged from a year ago.
CoreLogic reports that 38 states saw overall mortgage delinquency rates increase year over year in September. The two states with the highest delinquency rates were Louisiana and Texas. Also, 267 of 384 metropolitan areas posted annual increases in overall delinquency rates. The metro area most affected was Pine Bluff, Arkansas, which was up 1.1%. It was followed by the Houston metro area (up 1%), and New Orleans (up 0.8%).
Molly Boesel, senior principal economist for CoreLogic, said that while third-quarter loan performance showed a continual upward trend in mortgage delinquencies, the overall level of delinquencies remained low, particularly when compared to rates during past economic recessions.
“However, 70% of metropolitan areas showed an increase in the overall delinquency rate from a year earlier, and more concerning, 30% of metropolitan areas showed an increase in the serious delinquency rate,” Boesel said. “As recently as the second quarter of 2024, only 5% of metros recorded an increase in serious delinquency rates. The increase in the serious delinquency rate shows that borrowers who enter the delinquency pipeline are having difficulty catching up on their late payments.”